| Masaki Kano | |||||||||||
| Nationality: |  Japanese | ||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 1976 2, df=yes | ||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Osaka, Japan | ||||||||||
| Current Series: | Super GT | ||||||||||
| First Year: | 2012 | ||||||||||
| Current Team: | R'Qs Motor Sports | ||||||||||
| Car Number: | 22 | ||||||||||
| Former Teams: | JLOC, Arnage Racing | ||||||||||
| Starts: | 69 | ||||||||||
| Wins: | 0 | ||||||||||
| Poles: | 0 | ||||||||||
| Fastest Laps: | 0 | ||||||||||
| Best Finish: | 15th | ||||||||||
| Year: | 2013 | ||||||||||
| Prev Series: | ATCS WTCC | ||||||||||
| Prev Series Years: | 2007–08 2008–13 | ||||||||||
| Career Template2: |
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| Podiums: | 1 | ||||||||||
is a Japanese auto racing driver who currently races in the Super GT racing series. He is best known for having competed in the World Touring Car Championship.
Kano won the GT World Challenge Asia GT4 class championship in 2023 racing for YZ Racing with BMW Team Studie.
Kano competed in karting between 1991 and 1994.[1] He then attended the Winfield Racing School in France in 1995.
Kano finished ninth in the Japanese Super Taikyu Series in 2006, and later third in 2007.
From 2007 to 2008, Kano competed in the Asian Touring Car Series. He was runner-up to Fariqe Hairuman in the 2007 Asian Touring Car Championship, driving a BMW 320i for Engstler Motorsport, winning the Division 2 category. The following year he finished third in the 2008 Asian Touring Car Championship.
He made his World Touring Car Championship debut for Engstler at the 2008 FIA WTCC Race of Japan; he also raced at the subsequent Race of Macau. He returned to the WTCC for Engstler in the Asian rounds of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons.[2] He joined Engstler Motorsport once again for the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan.[3] For the 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan he replaced team boss Franz Engstler, who was unable to race due to illness.[4]
Kano made his debut in the Super GT racing series in the GT300 class in 2012, racing for JLOC. From 2013 to 2022, Kano raced for Arnage Racing. He scored 19 points in 2013 with one podium finish. In 2023, Kano joined R'Qs Motor Sports.
In 2023, Kano participated in the GT World Challenge Asia championship series, driving a BMW M4 GT4 for the YZ Racing with Studie Team alongside Manabu Orido. Kano and the team scored 6 race wins in the 2023 championship in the GT4 class.
Kano and the YZ Racing with Studie team went on to win the 2023 GT4 class championship, as well as the Japan Cup title for the 2023 season.[5] [6] [7]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW 320i | BRA 1 | BRA 2 | MEX 1 | MEX 2 | ESP 1 | ESP 2 | FRA 1 | FRA 2 | CZE 1 | CZE 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | GBR 1 | GBR 2 | GER 1 | GER 2 | EUR 1 | EUR 2 | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | NC | 0 | |
| 2009 | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW 320si | BRA 1 | BRA 2 | MEX 1 | MEX 2 | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | FRA 1 | FRA 2 | ESP 1 | ESP 2 | CZE 1 | CZE 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | GBR 1 | GBR 2 | GER 1 | GER 2 | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | NC | 0 | |
| 2010 | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW 320si | BRA 1 | BRA 2 | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | BEL 1 | BEL 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | GBR 1 | GBR 2 | CZE 1 | CZE 2 | GER 1 | GER 2 | ESP 1 | ESP 2 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | NC | 0 | |||
| 2011 | DeTeam KK Motorsport | BMW 320 TC | BRA 1 | BRA 2 | BEL 1 | BEL 2 | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | CZE 1 | CZE 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | GBR 1 | GBR 2 | GER 1 | GER 2 | ESP 1 | ESP 2 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | CHN 1 | CHN 2 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | NC | 0 | |
| 2012 | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW 320si | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | ESP 1 | ESP 2 | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | SVK 1 | SVK 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | AUT 1 | AUT 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | BRA 1 | BRA 2 | USA 1 | USA 2 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | CHN 1 | CHN 2 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | NC | 0 | |
| 2013 | Liqui Moly Team Engstler | BMW 320 TC | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | SVK 1 | SVK 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | AUT 1 | AUT 2 | RUS 1 | RUS 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | ARG 1 | ARG 2 | USA 1 | USA 2 | JPN 1 | JPN 2 | CHN 1 | CHN 2 | MAC 1 | MAC 2 | NC | 0 |
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | JLOC | Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SEP | SUG | SUZ | FUJ | AUT | MOT | NC | 0 | ||
| 2013 | Arnage Racing | Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SEP | SUG | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | AUT | MOT | 15th | 19 | |
| 2014 | Arnage Racing | Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | AUT | SUG | FUJ | SUZ | BUR | MOT | 19th | 17 | ||
| 2015 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | CHA | FUJ | SUZ | SUG | AUT | MOT | NC | 0 | ||
| 2018 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SUZ | CHA | FUJ | SUG | AUT | MOT | 24th | 1 | ||
| 2019 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SUZ | CHA | FUJ | AUT | SUG | MOT | NC | 0 | ||
| 2020 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | GT300 | FUJ (1) | FUJ (2) | SUZ (1) | MOT (1) | FUJ (3) | SUZ (2) | MOT (2) | FUJ (4) | NC | 0 | ||
| 2021 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA 18 | FSW 21 | SUZ 22 | TRM 19 | SUG 24 | AUT 14 | TRM 21 | FSW DNS | NC | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Arnage Racing | Toyota 86 MC GT300 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUG | AUT | MOT | 29th | 4 | ||
| 2023 | R'Qs Motor Sports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO 2020 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUG | AUT | MOT | NC | 0 |